After several cancellations and postponements, it looked as if the Cross-Country World Cup would get away with five races and thus with a black eye. However, a further wave of cancellations poured over the already meagre race calendar - what remained was Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic. Included in the World Cup since 2011 and one of the most popular races since the beginning, Nove Mesto has been holding two races as planned since early summer: The short track races on Tuesday and Friday, and the elite cross-country races on Thursday and Sunday.

Top line-up and junior races

The start lists promise plenty of excitement, at least for the two races, as the best athletes will be taking part. Kate Courtney, Jolanda Neff and Anne Terpstra lead the women's field, Nino Schurter, Henrique Avancini and Gerhard Kerschbaumer the men's
. Above all, however, the first races on Tuesday and Thursday should provide additional excitement, as the world's best mountain bikers have not met for some time. In between, an international race with an always patchy top line-up.

The junior categories will also be invited to the start. On Thursday and Saturday, the U23 categories will each ride a cross-country competition. With Joel Roth, Alexandre Balmer and Vital Albin, three extremely fast Swiss riders will be taking part in the races. From a Swiss perspective, Jacqueline Schneebeli has the best chance of a top 10 place in the U23 women's race.
The young women and men in the U19 categories will compete on Saturday morning."Last-minute decision" against spectators

Until recently, the organizers in Nove Mesto had planned to allow a maximum of 3,000 spectators per race day. However, according to the organizers, the health situation in the Czech Republic has worsened in recent days, which has led to uncertainties between the institutions involved in the decision-making process. Less than a week before the start of the race, it was decided to hold the competitions behind closed gates.

What will not change, however, is virtual access. The races will be broadcast live as usual on Red Bull TV at:
www.redbull.com/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-czech-republic

The elite women's and men's races will start on September 29 at 5:00 pm and 5:45 pm respectively, while the cross-country races will start on October 1 at 12:20 pm and 3:50 pm.
The second World Cup starts again with the short track on the following day at 5.00 pm and 5.45 pm. On Sunday, the women will start their World Cup final at 11.50am, while the men will conclude the shortest World Cup season in mountain bike history at around 4.50pm, starting the race at 3.20pm.